Oblivion
by VixenCrazySlaveAndMaster
Summary: You know the story of Sarah and Jareth…or do you? What gave Sarah the upper hand in the labyrinth? What caused Jareth to let her go? What happened after the downfall of the goblin king?
1. Chapter 1 - Vanessa

I gingerly placed my foot onto the stone column and gasped in shock when it crumbled below me. Swearing, I pulled my foot back and looked from the stone I was on to the one a few paces in front of me. As I gazed into the black abyss below me I felt my body begin to shake with fear. _Pull yourself together, he won't respect you if you show weakness_. Casting my fear aside I fixed my eyes on the next stone and leapt on top of it. I swayed for a few seconds, and my heart stopped in those seconds, before regaining my balance and I couldn't stop the smug grin from spreading across my face. I turned to where my master was standing and gave a low bow of respect before addressing him.

"Okay I passed the test, now what?" I had a sudden surge of adrenaline from the jump and I was ready for the next challenge. My master thought it necessary to test me in my spare time to keep me on my toes and after almost two years of it the tests were becoming easy. My master raised his eyebrows at my obvious confidence and stepped up to the edge of the cavern, twirling his walking cane between his fingers. He leaned over the edge of the rock and seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before a sardonic smile graced his face.

"For your next task…I wish for you to jump" I looked around myself and was confused before coming to the conclusion that he wanted me to return to him.

"You want me to come back? I doubt I'd make a jump that far even with my training" He shook his head slightly before standing straight again.

"I do not wish for you to jump beck to me but rather down there" He pointed his cane into the darkness and I felt the blood in my veins run cold. _He must be mad…_. I checked his face for any sign of sarcasm or joking but there was none; he was serious. I tried to swallow but found that my mouth was dry.

"But…I'll die if I jump down there…" He turned away from me and began to walk out of the cave, and with a sniff of indifference threw me the sentence that would change my life.

"Perhaps, but I will not teach an apprentice who does not know how to follow orders" I thought about attempting the jump back to safe land and shook it from my thoughts as I realised it would be impossible to make the jump. Looking down once more I imagined how the fall would be and the probability that I would survive. Slim. Very slim. But what other choice did I have? My master was not going to help me and it was my only way off the precarious rock. My mind made up I took a deep breath and shut my eyes before throwing myself into the darkness. The air bit at my skin as I went down but I refused to scream. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. All to quickly I felt earth beneath my body, but I didn't feel pain when I landed. Actually it was quite a soft landing. I slowly opened my eyes and let out a shaky breath when I saw I was outside the cave and sitting before my master. When he saw my confused look he held out his hand and I took it without thought. When I was up he gave me a reassuring smile and I realised what had just happened.

"It was a test?" He nodded.

"I needed to make sure you would obey my command no matter what I tell you to do. While in my care I will not let anything physically harm you, but you must trust me" I thought it over and nodded.

"I do trust you" And I meant it. This man had saved me and took me under his wing when he didn't have to. The least I could do was trust him. He accepted my trust with a very small smile and held out his arm for me to take. When I gave it a wary look the smile fell.

"Take my arm, Vanessa. I hear the call and I believe you can handle the situation" I readied myself for any circumstance and took his arm. With a small gust of wind and a swirl of black vapour we were gone. He always did like to make a dramatic exit even when no-one was around. When we re-appeared beside a hospital cot I let go of his arm and forced a blank expression onto my face. The woman lying in the cot looked very sick (she had dark bags under her eyes, her skin had sunk around her bones and her lips were cracked and bleeding) and it took all I had not to speak to her, to comfort her. But I knew I couldn't do that. We weren't there to tell her everything will be okay. So I kept my mouth shut and waited for my master to make us visible to the woman. With a small tap of his cane to the floor I knew we were visible and the woman turned with wide eyes to us.

"What are you doing in here? Nurse? Nurse!" The woman began to scream which resulted in her coughing a lung up. My master stepped forward and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I am afraid your time has come, Emily. We are here to guide you into the afterlife" Emily's hands had begun to shake and I really did pity her.

"No…I know who you are! The reaper!" I could tell my master was holding in a frown, all for her sake, and instead held out a hand to Emily.

"I prefer death, if you will. Please take my hand…I wish to end your pain and suffering" As if on cue Emily began coughing again and a small amount of blood dotted the blanket in front of her. She stared it the blood for a moment, I knew she was weighing up her options, before her head snapped up to me.

"You. Tell me one thing. What is it like over there?" I gave her a kind smile, they always asked me this as if I would know the answer.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that…everyone's afterlife is different no matter which was you go" She nodded absently and examined the blood. When I saw the hope leave her eyes I knew she had made her decision.

"Okay…" She grabbed death's hand and I watched in awe as he pulled her soul from her body. It always amazed me how he could do that and, as his apprentice, I aspired to be able to do that myself. Emily looked down at herself, shock plain on her face, before looking at her corpse and frowning.

"What will happen now?" She sounded scared but that was to be expected; the woman did just die. Death faced her towards me and placed her hand in mine.

"Your body will be found by one of the nurses shortly and you will be announced dead. I am afraid this is it from me but Vanessa will guide you to the afterlife" I held Emily's hand and began walking us both away from the body and towards the light that had appeared behind us. Emily's eyes went wide with awe at the sight of it and I smiled to myself. My master always created the light for the souls to make the transition easier for them. As we reached the light Emily gave one last glance over her shoulder to her body and to death before gripping my hand and walking into the afterlife.

**~I hope you enjoyed my first chapter and, of course, I do not own any of labyrinth's original characters. For anyone who watches the show I am basing the character of death off Supernatural's death; which I also do not own~ **


	2. Chapter 2 - Jareth

I felt the pull of being summoned and produced a crystal; inside I saw a beautiful red-haired woman weeping over a bright pink cot. I shook my head, I could now hear the stolen child crying for its mother, and stood from my throne. If it were up to me than women with little or no maternal instincts would not be allowed the gift of children. I let out a long irritated sigh and flicked the crystal into the air, when it landed I was transported aboveground. I looked around myself and guessed I was outside of the woman's home. It wasn't anything special but then again she was no queen. I knew what I had to do by heart and willed my magic to transfigure me into a magnificent white/cream barn own. It always took an effort to do magic aboveground (because in the world of mortals there was no longer any magic) and I could always feel my magic decrease when I arrived. I pushed myself from the ground and beat my wings against the air and was propelled upwards towards the upper floor of the house, where I could hear the woman was now in hysterics. The window to what I assume was the child's nursery was small and had to be pushed up to be opened. But it wasn't a hassle and with a jerk of my head the window was open and I rushed in – creating a strong breeze as I did. I had begun circling the room and the woman's eyes had gone wide in fright and the empty cot had been momentarily forgotten. She hurried towards the window and attempted to close it but it was no use; the magic holding it open was far too strong for her. After getting bored watching her try to close the window I landed on the wooden floor and changed back into my true form. The woman hadn't seen me so I took a step forward and made sure the sound of my boots on the floor was loud enough for her to hear. She visibly froze and I rolled my eyes at her response. Humans were such an anxious species. Eventually she made the smart choice and turned to face me and in a flash her fear was replaced by curiosity. Her blue eyes ate up every inch of my body as a blush set on her cheeks. I raised an eyebrow and made eye contact, which she immediately broke. So she thinks I'm intimidating? Good. I am. She bit her lip and looked around the room.

"How did you get in here? Who are you?" I resisted the urge to glare at the woman and instead gave her a devilish grin.

"You know who I am, Wendy. You summoned me here remember?" She thought for a moment and then her eyes flashed in understanding.

"Y-you're the goblin king? But you're not real?" I had heard it a thousand times and each time it made me more and more aggravated. I understood that with the new age not everyone knew the story of the baby stealing goblin king, but the least you could do if you wished away a child was realise that I am in fact real. I used magic to pull a crystal from the air and held it on the tips of my fingers.

"I am very real…" I said as I feigned interest in the crystal I held. Wendy had noticed it too and had taken a step closer to me.

"What's that?" I rolled the crystal from my fingertips to the back of my hand and then into my palm.

"Oh this? It's a gift" I held it out for Wendy to see and she peered into it. After a few seconds of her eyes wildly roaming the crystal she straightened up and looked down her nose at my 'gift'.

"It doesn't look like much" She crossed her arms and my empty palm twitched with the need to slap the ungrateful woman. Although I had never hit a woman in my life (and never intend to) some mortals did push at my self-control. I plastered a neutral expression on my face and rolled the ball back onto my fingertips.

"It's just a crystal; nothing more, nothing less. But if you turn it this way…it can show you your dreams" I turned the crystal as if to see it in a better light and noticed Wendy staring at it.

"Do you want it?" She eagerly nodded and reached out a hand to take it from me. I pulled the crystal away from her and threw it into my other hand.

"Then forget about the baby" Wendy frowned and ran a hand through her short hair. This shouldn't of even been a decision in the first place; a mother should always choose her child. She looked at the crystal again and then at me.

"Will Chris be hurt?" I inwardly gave a slow, sarcastic, clap – so she _wasn't_ a completely heartless woman. I shook my head and offered her the crystal once more.

"Forget about the baby…" I repeated. She didn't think a second time and took the crystal from my palm. The second her skin touched the smooth surface I was taken back to my castle and I navigated my way through the halls to where the nursery was. Inside I found a small baby girl with a wooden block in her hand and picked her up, holding her to the light coming through the window. She was quite a pretty child and it was a shame she would never know her birth mother. But, like all forgotten children, they would find good homes underground. I placed the child on my hip and carried her back to my throne room where I sat and placed the girl on my lap. I bounced her on my knee and produced a crystal to see what her mother's dreams were. I let out a harsh laugh at the sight before me and moved the crystal so the child could see it too if she wished. Her birth mother was crouched in the corner of the baby's now empty room and papers were scattered across the floor. At further inspection they seemed to be bank statements and letters from loan companies. The woman seemed quite frightened. The baby girl let out a happy gurgle and I gave her a small kiss on her temple.

"You see little one, humans are very forgetful creatures. They are promised that their dreams will come true…but they always seem to forget that nightmares are dreams too" The babe let out another gurgle and grabbed for the crystal. I chuckled and let her hold it (it could not harm her and if it broke I would conjure another) and she began shaking it. I felt a sense of satisfaction at seeing the roles reversed; the child content while the mother was living in her own hell. Of course it didn't always go so easily. I would find that out very soon.


End file.
